Worldwide Sports News

Texas Rangers rumors: Jordan Montgomery is returning to Arlington on a one year deal for $1.25 million plus incentive bonuses, per Evan Grant. Montgomery, who is returning from Tommy John surgery, would presumably immediately go on the 60 day injured list.

Montgomery, of course, was one of the heroes of the 2023 World Series team. Acquired from the St. Louis Cardinals at the trade deadline, along with Chris Stratton, in exchange for Tekoah Roby, Thomas Saggese and John King, Montgomery put up a 2.79 ERA in 11 starts post-trade and a 2.90 ERA in 6 post-season appearances, including pitching in relief in the Rangers’ Game 7 ALCS clincher.

Montgomery hit the free agent market after 2023 expecting to cash in, but ended up finding the market for his services much softer than expected. He ended up signing a one year, $25 million deal with the D-Backs with a $20 million player option right before Opening Day, and fired his agent, Scott Boras, two weeks later. Montgomery put up a 6.23 ERA in 21 starts and four relief appearances in 2024, then missed all of 2025 due to Tommy John surgery, which he underwent at the end of March, 2025.

In the comments recently, I dismissed a suggestion that the Rangers could/should bring back Montgomery, noting that he would probably not be ready to return to the majors until close to the All Star Break, and that his timeline being about a month behind Cody Bradford made him not that attractive an option. I have now been proven wrong, as we are reminded that Chris Young never believes you can have enough starting pitching, and at just $1.25 million guaranteed, the price is obviously right.

One of the things we have talked about is how much turnover there has been from the 2023 team, and how many contributors to that club aren’t here anymore. Bringing back Montgomery, who is up there with Cliff Lee as one of the best trade deadline additions the Rangers have ever made, goes in the other direction, and there’s definitely a quality vibes element to this move, however it may work out. Now maybe they will bring back Mitch Garver to platoon at DH with Joc Pederson.

On Tuesday, Baseball Prospectus revealed their PECOTA projections for the 2026 season. The White Sox, like most teams, have had a long-standing beef with the system, having long in the past chronically underestimating performance.

As a mathematical projection system, PECOTA is not without biases. But it’s math, man. So, as funny as this division looks, well, this is how a “normal” 2026 sizes up to play out:

To give this projection some perspective, the second-half White Sox played 28-37 baseball in 2025. That .431 winning percentage works out to a 70-92 record. (In fact, .431 is 69.8 wins.) So PECOTA sees whatever additions and subtractions made this offseason, plus growth or regression of prospects, all as a wash.

Tomorrow, we’ll ask you for your thoughts on the entire AL Central. For today, take on the White Sox fortunes for 2026.

Do you agree? Will the White Sox prove PECOTA wrong?

The day is here. Pitchers and catchers report to Clearwater today. The offseason is over: rejoice!

Of course, there’s still a bit of time before the actual spring training games begin. But for the devoted (or, perhaps, obsessive) baseball fan, there’s still things to watch. Videos of pitcher workouts will hit social media. Interviews will happen. Pitchers will try new offerings. Rust will be shaken off. Etcetera.

This is all small, quiet stuff, but it’s baseball. And there are fans who will gladly take any baseball they can get. There are also fans, of course, who find this all tedious and won’t start watching until the games begin.

So, today’s question is: Will you be following the pitchers and catchers (to the extent that one can)?

They say you can never have too much pitching. The Orioles were reminded of that simple phrase during an injury-filled 2025 season. Mike Elias knows this. He knew it last year too, and he knew it all the way back in December 2023 when he signed a 34-year-old swingman that hadn’t pitched in the big leagues since 2017.

Elias never could have anticipated the impact Albert Suárez would make the following season, but he clearly saw something he liked during Suárez’s time in Japan and Korea. Baltimore inked Suárez to a minor-league deal with an invite to spring training. The Birds called on the righty for a spot start in mid-April, and the veteran went on to post a 3.70 ERA over 133.2 major-league innings.

The Birds kept Suárez around in 2025, but injuries prevented any real opportunity for a sequel. He made the Opening Day roster but suffered a right subscapularis strain after his first appearance. Big Al returned from the injured list in the middle of September, but the O’s shut him down after he reported elbow discomfort. He posted a 2.31 ERA and 0.943 WHIP over five appearances (one start) last year.

The Birds non-tendered Suárez at the end of 2025, but they brought him back on another minor-league deal. Suárez will once again head to Sarasota looking to prove that he still has what it takes to get big league hitters out on a routine basis.

Suárez remains a low-risk, high-reward option for the Orioles, but the stakes have changed. The 36-year-old will continue doing everything he can to earn a roster spot, but the Birds may need him now more than ever. Suárez provided incredible value (2.7 bWAR) as a surprise contributor over 145 innings in a Baltimore uniform, but the Birds need him to do it again.

Baltimore’s bullpen will begin the season as the club’s least proven unit. Ryan Helsley and Andrew Kittredge will anchor the back end, but just about every other reliever will bring some form of uncertainty into 2026. Keegan Akin and Yennier Cano have been inconsistent, while guys like Rico Garcia and Yaramil Hiraldo will begin the year without any real type of track record.

Dietrich Enns followed the Suárez template with a 3.14 ERA over 16 relief appearances and one start last year. The 34-year-old will return as a multi-inning option for the Orioles, but he could face a roster crunch if both Suárez and Tyler Wells find their way to the bullpen. Enns is healthy and two years younger, but Suárez holds more credibility right now. What was that phrase about never having too much pitching?

Baltimore dealt from an already thin unit when they traded Kade Strowd and prospects for Blaze Alexander. It remains to be seen whether guys like Cade Povich and Brandon Young will join the bullpen or Norfolk’s rotation. Colin Selby and Grant Wolfram could be good, but the team will have to find out the hard way. Chayce McDermott may finally discover something, and Anthony Nunez figures to get a look at some point.

Still, I can’t help but come back to what Suárez delivered in 2024 and wonder if he has another year in the tank. The six-foot-three righty pitched to contact with a mid-90s fastball. Batters rarely put the ball on the ground (just a 35.5 GB%), but they only barreled the ball 7.1 percent of the time. Sure, there could have been some luck involved, but Suárez appeared to have what it takes to keep hitters off balance.

Injuries forced Suárez into the rotation for a majority of 2024. The Orioles appear to have more depth in that department right now, but it’s a comfort knowing that a healthy Suárez could give the team five or six strong innings at some point during the season. A set relief role could provide Suárez a better chance to stay healthy, but his workload will be worth monitoring as spring training progresses.

It’s never wise to put all your eggs in the basket of a 36-year-old coming off an injury. You can call him a dark horse, an x-factor, or anything in between—either way, Suárez has a chance to provide real value to an unproven bullpen, and the Orioles would greatly benefit from one-more year of the veteran exceeding expectations.

There could be little else to start today’s news roundup with than general enthusiasm over the return of former Tigers’ ace Justin Verlander. Verlander, who accompanied the Tigers on both their last visits to the World Series, is winding down his Hall of Fame career, and seems to want to bring it back to where it all began in Detroit. We’ve covered his one-year deal in more detail on the site already, but a news recap wouldn’t be complete without some general chatter about the signing. We’d love to know how you feel about the deal. While Verlander is not as young and no longer has the same stats he did when he was traded to Houston all those years ago, he has certainly proven over the last several seasons that there is still gas in the tank. And with Jackson Jobe and Reese Olson both hitting the 60-day IL yesterday, this is a team that could certainly use pitching. On that note, yesterday the Tigers made things official with Framber Valdez as well.

There’s more tidbits in today’s news, including the unexpected passing of a former Royal, and some legal woes for a former Dodgers outfielder. So let’s just jump right into it.

Detroit Tigers News

• Welcome back to the D, JV!

• If you want to feel a little misty-eyed about it.

• Jason Beck looks at the one-year deal signed by Verlander.
• Some injury updates

• A look at the new streaming home for the Tigers in 2026.

AL Central News

• Terrance Gore, a World Series winner with the Royals, has passed away at age 34.

MLB News

• Paul Goldschmidt will make his home with the Yankees this season.
• The Pirates have signed Marcell Ozuna.
• It took a six-player deal to send Caleb Durbin to the Red Sox.
• Exactly how much free food can a player consume under the CBA?
• The Rangers are turning an iconic Nolan Ryan moment into a bloody unique giveaway item.
• Who is the top player in every position heading into the 2026 season?
• Francisco Lindor may need to undergo surgery for a potential hamate bone issue.
• Anthony Santander will miss much of the 2026 season after undergoing left shoulder surgery.
• How Cody Bellinger lockout-proofed his new contract.
• Ex-MLB outfielder Yasiel Puig has been found guilty on two federal charges related to gambling.
• 10 MLB players with surprising international connections heading into the WBC.
• How the last Team USA in the WBC managed to put together one of the most unstoppable pitching rotations in current baseball.
• The Pirates will never totally shut the door on finding ways to work with Andrew McCutchen.
• The annual state of baseball fan survey from The Athletic has been released. ($)
• After Verlander, Scherzer, and Kershaw… when will we see the next Hall of Fame starting pitcher? ($)
• So wait, how am I supposed to watch baseball again?

• Here’s a helpful guide for how to watch games on MLB TV this season.

• Oof.

Just by the nature of doing a daily birthday post, we’re going to run into some days where there’s not a truly notable Yankee from history to profile. There are also going to be some days we run into where there’s more than one beloved player. However, today is definitely the former and not the latter.

There have only been three Yankees players who have ever had a February 11th birthday, and you’d be forgiven for not remembering any of them. Maybe you can recall the recently-released Jayvien Sandridge, just because he made a cameo for last year’s team.

However, one of today’s birthday boys is engrained into my mind. Unfortunately for him, it’s not for a reason you would want to be remember for.

César Augusto Cabral
Born: February 11, 1989 (Sabana Grande de Palenque, Dominican Republic)
Yankees Tenure: 2013-14

Cabral’s road to the major leagues was a strange journey. He originally signed with the Red Sox as an international free agent in 2005. While he had some OK years in the meantime, by 2010, he had only advanced to High-A ball. Left off the Red Sox 40-man roster, he was then selected by the Rays in that offseason’s Rule 5 Draft.

In the ensuing spring training, the Rays and Blue Jays played a bit of hot potato with him before the Rays had to return him to the Red Sox after Cabral failed to make Tampa Bay’s roster. Following another season back in Boston’s system, he was again picked in the Rule 5 Draft, this time by the Royals. Once again though, he wasn’t destined to play there, as later that same day, the Yankees purchased him from Kansas City.

In spring training 2012, Cabral pitched well enough that the Yankees were considering rostering him full time, negating him returning to Boston. However, he suffered a stress fracture in the dying days off spring, leading to him missing the entire 2012 season. The injury also mean the Yankees could put him on the 60-day injured list and avoid sending him back.

With the possibility of losing him wiped out, the Yankees sent Cabral to the minors to begin 2013, where he produced some iffy results. But when the rosters expanded in September, the Yankees decided to call up the pitcher. In addition to him having the raw “stuff” that impressed them in 2012, he was also a lefty who could allow them to further play matchups in the days before the three batter rule. He ended up appearing in 3.2 innings across eight games for the 2013 Yankees, striking out six batters.

In 2014, Cabral started the season in the minors, but came up that April following an injury to David Robertson. He was again used as a LOOGY, combining for one total inning across his first three games. His fourth appearance came on April 18th, and became the reason why I—and other sickos—continue to remember him.

Playing the Rays on April 18th, the Yankees brought in Cabral in the bottom of the eighth. Adam Warren had just allowed a two-run homer to increase the Yankees’ deficit to 8-5, and they were likely just looking for someone to get a quick final out of the inning before trying to rally in the ninth.

Cabral started his day by giving up a single to Ben Zobrist, and then uncorking a wild pitch in a sign of things to come. Following a Brandon Guyer RBI single, Cabral hit Evan Longoria with a pitch. He then also hit James Loney, having already fallen behind 3-0 in the count. Wil Myers followed that with a single, but in the first pitch of the at-bat after that, Cabral hit a third batter, plunking Logan Forsythe. At that point, home-plate umpire Joe West ejected Cabral, despite the protestations of manager Joe Girardi. Cabral almost certainly didn’t hit any of the batters on purpose, but at that point, the ejection was almost for the safety of batters as much as anything else.

Immediately after that game, the Yankees DFA’d Cabral, but eventually cleared waivers and returned to the Yankees’ minors. Following the season, Cabral elected for free agency and signed with the Orioles. He appeared in two games for them in 2015 and after that spent the next couple years playing in the minors and Independent ball. His last recorded stats are in the 2023-24 season in the Dominican Winter League.

Every season for every team usually features relievers who only appear in a handful of innings. Usually, those stint are uneventful and not particularly remembered. That’s probably the case for Cabral for most people out there. However, some of us are weird, and Cabral plunking three batters and getting ejected for the wellbeing of the opposition is something to remember.

See more of the “Yankees Birthday of the Day” series here.

Meet the Mets

Christian Scott trained at the same facility as Max Scherzer this offseason, and Scherzer is still as intense as ever.

Juan Soto will be making the move to left field this season.

Francisco Lindor has a hamate bone injury, one which could require surgery with a six-week recovery period, which brushes up against the start of the regular season.

Hayden Senger resigned from his winter job at Whole Foods this past offseason, opting to play winter ball instead.

The Mets acquired left-handed reliever Bryan Hudson from the White Sox for cash considerations, and they in turn moved Reed Garrett to the 60-day injured list.

The timeline for A.J. Minter’s return is early May.

MLB’s prospect writers placed odds on which top 20 prospects will (and won’t) make Opening Day rosters.

Around the National League East

The Braves signed catcher Johan Heim to a major league deal worth $1.25 million, and he’ll likely be the backup catcher with Sean Murphy starting the season on the injured list.

Meanwhile, they put Spencer Schwellenbach on the 60-day injured list with bone spurs in his right elbow.

The Braves made a trade with the Rays, acquiring infielder Brett Wisely (who they traded to the Rays last month). They subsequently placed pitcher Joe Jiménez on the 60-day injured list.

Around Major League Baseball

Jayson Stark wrote about how, very soon, the idea of who qualifies as a Hall of Fame-caliber pitcher will change drastically.

The Athletics have signed pitcher Aaron Civale.

Justin Verlander has signed a one-year contract with the Tigers, returning to where his career began.

MLB put out a primer on how to watch MLB.tv games this season.

Isiah Kiner-Falefa gave his side of the story in one of the most infamous plays in last year’s World Series.

Kyle Wright, the last major league pitcher to win 20 games in a season, signed a minor league contract with the Cubs, with an invitation to spring training.

Former Met José Quintana signed a one year contract with the Rockies, his 15th season.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

Yours truly took a look at Craig Kimbrel’s potential as a bullpen option for the Mets this season.

The Amazin’ Avenue prospect staff writers gave their thoughts on the site’s top ten prospect rankings.

This Date in Mets History

Ray Knight, coming off his World Series MVP win, signed with the Baltimore Orioles on this day in 1987.

As Orioles relief pitchers report to spring training this week, it’s largely the same crew that finished the 2025 season. And that’s a surprise.

The expectation was that the O’s would be aggressive in reshaping their bullpen after trading away four veteran relievers last year and losing closer Félix Bautista to injury. Instead, the O’s have made only two relief additions. On Nov. 4, they reacquired Andrew Kittredge, one of the relievers they’d dealt at the deadline. And on Dec. 1, they signed Ryan Helsley as their new closer. Since then, it’s been crickets. The O’s even traded away a reliever, Kade Strowd, in the Blaze Alexander deal.

With Helsley and Kittredge slotted into the closer and setup roles, respectively, the O’s otherwise are rolling with a group of largely untested arms to fill out the rest of the bullpen. Keegan Akin and Dietrich Enns are the top lefties, perhaps with Grant Wolfram in the mix. Candidates from the right side are Rico Garcia, Yennier Cano, Yaramil Hiraldo, Colin Selby, and Tyler Wells, if he’s not needed in the rotation. Albert Suárez is back on a minor league deal. Prospects Cameron Foster and Anthony Nunez were added to the 40-man roster and could get a look.

If the O’s don’t have another bullpen acquisition in the cards before the season starts, which of these relievers — if any — are you feeling the most confident about? Did Kittredge impress you in his three-month stint as an Oriole last year? Do you trust in the two-time All-Star Helsley’s strong Cardinals career, or did his brutal post-deadline performance with the Mets last year turn you off? Do any of the lesser-known names strike you as breakout candidates?

Let us know what you think, Camden Chatters.

The Dodgers made a flurry of waiver claims over the past week, first by reclaiming outfielder Michael Siani from the New York Yankees while designating recent signee Andy Ibañez for assignment.

The Dodgers then brought back catcher Ben Rortvedt off waivers from the Cincinnati Reds, and in doing so, they made the tough decision to designate Anthony Banda for assignment. Banda had been a fixture within the Dodgers bullpen over the past two seasons, posting a combined 3.14 ERA across 114 2/3 innings while pitching 30 percent better than league average per ERA+.

With the Dodgers having a plethora of left-handed relief options paired with the fact that Banda no longer has any available minor league options, the expectation is that Banda will be traded by Friday, per Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic. Ardaya notes that Banda should have a respectable amount of interest, considering the scarcity of left-handed bullpen options still available on the open market.

Now, the team will look to see if it can fetch anything for Banda via trade… Banda is expected to have an interesting trade market, with quality left-handed relievers being hard to come by – much less at his $1.625 million price tag.

Links

The Dodgers continued shoring up their non-roster invitee group on by signing both right-handed pitcher Jordan Weems and catcher Seby Zavala to minor league deals. Weems has appeared in 144 career games across parts of six big league seasons, most recently posting a 14.54 ERA in just 4 1/3 innings with the Houston Astros last year. Zavala has played in 194 career games across parts of five seasons, having most recently appeared in 18 games with the Seattle Mariners in 2024.

The Dodgers outfield is now more fortified both offensively and defensively with the addition of All-Star Kyle Tucker, giving Teoscar Hernández the opportunity to return back to left field. Waiting in the distance are some of the Dodgers’ top prospects, which includes outfielders Josue de Paula and Zyhir Hope.

Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com aren’t ready to jump the gun on de Paula getting his first cup of coffee at the big league level this season, with Callis noting that the star talent is too heavy for the 20-year-old outfielder to get a legitimate shot.

Per Mayo: There’s no chance. I love Josue De Paula. I love the bat. I could see him being ahead of the timeline and being ready by, say, September.

Per Callis: The Dodgers’ lineup is just too loaded.

The salary cap/floor debate will be the one of the main talking points once the current CBA expires after the 2026 season, as the Dodgers seemingly “ruin” baseball with the amount of spending they’ve done over the last three offseasons. Just because there is a salary cap doesn’t automatically give every other team a fair chance of being competitive.

Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times takes a look at the Sacramento Kings and the NBA as a whole when discussing the need for a salary cap, as he notes that the quality of spending and managing outweighs the amount of capital they possess.

If you are a fan of a small-market baseball team, and you hear your owner say your team would win if only MLB had a salary cap, our friends in Sacramento would offer you three letters in response: LOL.